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Aapravasi Ghat

Mauritius
Factors affecting the property in 2021*
  • Commercial development
  • Ground transport infrastructure
  • Management systems/ management plan
Factors* affecting the property identified in previous reports
  • Restoration works (issue resolved)
  • Visitor pressure (issue resolved)
  • Management systems/Management Plan (need for an updated Management Plan)
  • Urban development (issue resolved)
  • Commercial development
  • Transport infrastructure
International Assistance: requests for the property until 2021
Requests approved: 1 (from 2014-2014)
Total amount approved : 29,500 USD
Missions to the property until 2021**

March 2012: ICOMOS reactive monitoring mission; May 2018: Joint UNESCO/ICOMOS Advisory mission

Conservation issues presented to the World Heritage Committee in 2021

On 8 January 2021, the State Party submitted a state of conservation report, which is available at https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1227/documents/. Progress in a number of conservation issues addressed by the Committee at its previous sessions is presented, as follows:

  • The Management Plan for the property has been updated and was included as an annex to the state of conservation report. It will be updated again in 2025. The Plan includes, amongst others:
    • A continued role for the Management Plan Committee, chaired by the Ministry of Arts and Cultural Heritage,
    • Future continuation of research on the Parc à Boulets,
    • Provisions for a consultative community that will meet at least once a year as part of the management structure for the property;
  • A precinct level “Area Action Plan for Urban Heritage Area: Buffer Zone of the Aapravasi Ghat World Heritage Property” (AAP 01) has been developed and adopted to Master Plan the future development of the buffer zone of the property. Included among its provisions are that:
    • The Management Plan Committee monitors the implementation of the AAP 01,
    • A Heritage Impact Assessment and Visual Impact Assessment (HIA/VIA) needs to be undertaken on any development planned for the buffer zone that might have a negative impact on the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property,
    • The Parc à Boulets has been given the status of protected area in the AAP 01;
  • A consultant has been appointed to undertake an overarching HIA/VIA for the large-scale developments in the buffer zone on precinct level. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed its execution. The HIA/VIA will be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review once completed;
  • No construction of individual projects in the buffer zone have commenced yet. Individual HIA/VIAs will be undertaken for all the individual development projects in the buffer zone before they are implemented and will likewise be submitted to the World Heritage Centre for review once completed.
Analysis and Conclusion by World Heritage Centre and the Advisory Bodies in 2021

The State Party has made much progress in addressing previous Committee requests and implementing the recommendations of the 2018 joint UNESCO/ICOMOS Advisory mission. The implementation of the updated Management Plan (2020–2025), and the development and adoption of the AAP 01 to steer development in the property’s buffer zone, are important tools to safeguard the OUV of the property and its setting. The AAP 01 augments the protection offered by the 2011 Planning Policy Guidance (PPG 6), the guidelines for the urban heritage area that covers the territory of the buffer zone. The AAP 01’s provisions for mandatory impact assessments are welcome.

The State Party’s commitment to undertaking the overarching HIA/VIA on the planned large developments in the buffer zone of the property, along with individual HIA/VIAs on the constituent projects, as well as submitting these assessments to the World Heritage Centre for review by the Advisory Bodies, indicate its commitment to the maintenance of the OUV of the property.

The PPG 6 states that community participation for impact assessments should be undertaken, where required, but does not mandate participation. Annexe 5 of the updated Management Plan includes public involvement/participation as components of an HIA/VIA but does not describe the form that such consultations should take. It is therefore advisable that the State Party be requested again to develop a framework for stakeholder participation in the property, including for HIA/VIAs.

The research undertaken on the Parc à Boulets, and the subsequent protection granted to the area through the AAP 01, safeguards the potentially valuable archaeological residue in this area associated with the former Immigration Depot. Further archival and archaeological research in this area should be stimulated. It would be welcomed if the State Party could provide updates to the World Heritage Centre on such investigations in the future.

Decisions adopted by the Committee in 2021
44 COM 7B.119
Aapravasi Ghat (Mauritius) (C 1227)

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
  2. Recalling Decision 43 COM 7B.108, adopted at its 43rd session (Baku, 2019),
  3. Welcomes the submission and adoption of the updated Management Plan (2020-2025), and the adoption of the “Area Action Plan for Urban Heritage Area: Buffer Zone of the Aapravasi Ghat World Heritage Property (AAP 01)”, which includes provisions for impact assessments where development proposals may negatively impact the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
  4. Also welcomes the commitment of the State Party to undertake and submit for review an overarching Heritage Impact Assessment and Visual Impact Assessment (HIA/VIA) on the buffer zone developments, as well as constituent HIA/VIAs on the individual developments before projects are implemented;
  5. Reiterates its request to the State Party to develop a framework for stakeholder consultation in all matters that may affect the OUV of the property, including for impact assessment procedures;
  6. Requests the State Party to provide information to the World Heritage Centre on future archival and archaeological research on the Parc à Boulets;
  7. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2022, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session.
Draft Decision: 44 COM 7B.119

The World Heritage Committee,

  1. Having examined Document WHC/21/44.COM/7B,
  2. Recalling Decision 43 COM 7B.108, adopted at its 43rd session (Baku, 2019),
  3. Welcomes the submission and adoption of the updated Management Plan (2020-2025), and the adoption of the “Area Action Plan for Urban Heritage Area: Buffer Zone of the Aapravasi Ghat World Heritage Property (AAP 01)”, which includes provisions for impact assessments where development proposals may negatively impact the Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) of the property;
  4. Also welcomes the commitment of the State Party to undertake and submit for review an overarching Heritage Impact Assessment and Visual Impact Assessment (HIA/VIA) on the buffer zone developments, as well as constituent HIA/VIAs on the individual developments before projects are implemented;
  5. Reiterates its request to the State Party to develop a framework for stakeholder consultation in all matters that may affect the OUV of the property, including for impact assessment procedures;
  6. Requests the State Party to provide information to the World Heritage Centre on future archival and archaeological research on the Parc à Boulets;
  7. Also requests the State Party to submit to the World Heritage Centre, by 1 December 2022, an updated report on the state of conservation of the property and the implementation of the above for examination by the World Heritage Committee at its 46th session in 2023.
Report year: 2021
Mauritius
Date of Inscription: 2006
Category: Cultural
Criteria: (vi)
Documents examined by the Committee
SOC Report by the State Party
Report (2021) .pdf
arrow_circle_right 44COM (2021)
Exports

* : The threats indicated are listed in alphabetical order; their order does not constitute a classification according to the importance of their impact on the property.
Furthermore, they are presented irrespective of the type of threat faced by the property, i.e. with specific and proven imminent danger (“ascertained danger”) or with threats which could have deleterious effects on the property’s Outstanding Universal Value (“potential danger”).

** : All mission reports are not always available electronically.


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